Big streaming growth for Finland’s music industry in 2014

Finland’s recorded music market followed the global trend in 2014, with an overall decline partially offset by gains in streaming revenue, according to data from IFPI. The total industry income for the year was €35.9 million, down 14% from 2013. It was the first year where digital properties edged out physical formats, accounting for 51% of the year’s revenue. Money from all streaming services rose 38% from the previous year to €16 million. Continue Reading

UK Albums Chart to reflect streams with complicated math

The Official Albums Chart in the UK announced that the beginning in March, it will incorporate data from streaming services into its calculations. The equation it will use for determining rankings is designed to reflect the success of a whole album rather than seeing boosts due to a couple popular singles. The unique formula will downweigh the top two singles from an album to the average of the rest of the top 12 most-streamed tracks. Continue Reading

WideOrbit’s Clarity platform selected by Nielsen for first rollout of its streaming metrics

Ad management company WideOrbit announced that its Clarity platform, which offers streaming, ad injection, and audience measurement to audio publishers, will be the first distribution partner for Nielsen Audio’s newly developed streaming audience measurement technology. Continue Reading

Sirius XM wins right to appeal in New York for pre-1972 copyright suit

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon has granted Sirius XM the right to appeal its New York lawsuit over royalties for pre-1972 recordings. McMahon wrote that she granted appeal permission because of “a critically important controlling question of law” and uncertainty about whether Sirius XM had fair use to make temporary copies of the music. She determined that the case “warrants a close look by a controlling court.” Continue Reading

Rhapsody’s 2.5 million subscribers increasingly favor mobile listening

After announcing 2 million subscribers back in July, Rhapsody and Napster have grown to 2.5 million paid subscribers worldwide. Those members listen to more than 5 million hours of music a week. A large part of the growth came from the company’s U.S. deal with T-Mobile, which contributed a 67% spike in unRadio subscriptions over the holiday season. Continue Reading